Thoughts on Torah, working, living in Israel and how they go together.

Wednesday, January 22, 2014

R' Ovadya's oldest daughter might run for President of Israel

Adina Bar Shalom, R' Ovadya's oldest daughter is well known for pushing the boundaries. Twenty-five years ago, a philanthropist handed Rav Ovadiah a blank check to create an avenue for haredi women to receive the secular education they needed to earn enough to take their families out of poverty. At the time R' Ovadya did not agree. Bar-Shalom kept pushing her father to approve the idea until finally in 2000 she got the green light from her father to create such an institution. Today, there are about one thousand students in the Haredi College in Yerushalayim under her auspices.

Now she wants to run for President as the Shas candidate when Peres's term ends. This will create a big conundrum in Shas and the other Charedi parties. They have no women MKs and have no plans to have women MKs. They claim that women don't want to be in the public spotlight. A Charedi woman President would cause them a lot of problems and embarrassment. On the other hand, how can Shas not support the daughter of R' Ovadya?

It will be fascinating to see how this plays out over the next few months.